Monday, 26 December 2016

The Israeli magistrate’s court in Jerusalem on Sunday sentenced a 19-year-old Palestinian girl to 16 years in prison, after she was accused of attempting to stab an Israeli settler in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem in Oct. 2015.

Members of Shurouq Dwayyat’s family told Ma'an that the sentence also included a fine of 80,000 shekels ($20,929).

Shurouq was shot and injured by a 35-year-old Israeli settler in Jerusalem's Old City after she allegedly attempted to stab him on Oct. 7, 2015.
However, witnesses told Ma'an that she had been assaulted by the Israeli settler and did not have any sharp objects on her at the time of the incident.

Israeli media said at the time that the man sustained light injuries, while Shurouq was shot four times in her upper body, leaving her in serious condition. more

Saturday, 24 December 2016

From the Electronic Intifada – The UN Security Council has voted by 14-0 with one abstention – the United States – to condemn Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The resolution passed on Friday demands that Israel “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and that it fully respect all of its legal obligations in this regard.”

It is a clear declaration that Israel’s settlement activities are illegal, but as I explained in an analysis on Thursday, existing resolutions – that have been unenforced for decades – already do that.

This resolution, like its predecessors, sets out no concrete consequences for Israel if it fails to comply. There are also key elements of the resolution – to do with the so-called two-state solution and the right of Palestinians to resist – that I argue actually erode Palestinian rights.

But supporters of Palestinian rights will at least welcome the Security Council’s renewal of its longstanding condemnation of Israel’s ongoing theft of Palestinian land. This will give impetus to initiatives that aim to end all business with the settlements. more

Monday, 19 December 2016

From the Electronic Intifada - President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US ambassador to Israel is the head of an organization that is being sued by Palestinians for its role in the theft of their land for settlements and other Israeli war crimes.

Announcing the nomination, the Trump transition team said that David Friedman would serve from Jerusalem, “Israel’s eternal capital” – signalling that the new administration intends to move the US embassy to the city from its current location in Tel Aviv.

Friedman is being described as “more extreme” even than the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

As the Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz reports, Friedman has called President Barack Obama an “anti-Semite” and labeled supporters of the liberal Zionist lobby group J Street as “kapos” – a term used to describe Jews who collaborated with the Nazis in the death camps.

Friedman supports the outright annexation of the occupied West Bank and has argued that absorbing the Palestinian population would not threaten Israel’s status as a Jewish-ruled state because, allegedly, “Nobody really knows how many Palestinians live there.” more

Employees of Israel's Nature and Parks Authority escorted by Israeli forces raided the Palestinian Bal al-Rahma cemetery in occupied East Jerusalem on Sunday and installed a sign forbidding burial in parts of the cemetery which have been claimed to become a national park.

The head of the committee for the preservation of Islamic cemeteries in Jerusalem, Mustafa Abu Zahra, told Ma'an that the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority crew installed around 10 signs in different areas in the cemetery in both Arabic and Hebrew reading “National Park around Jerusalem wall,” “open public area,” and “no burials allowed.”

Abu Zahra added that the area targeted on Sunday included plots belonging to the al-Husseini and al-Ansari families in the eastern area of the cemetery, and amounted to three to four dunams (0.75 to one acre) of confiscated lands.

Abu Zahra said that some graves in the al-Husseini area had been erected during the Ottoman Empire era, and that old Egyptian graves were located in the al-Ansari part of the cemetery, adding that the cemetery was Islamic property and that Israel had no right to infringe upon it.
A spokesperson for the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority did not respond to a request for comment from Ma’an on Monday.

Saturday, 17 December 2016

The Hamas movement’s military wing Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades Saturday evening released a statement confirming that the Tunisian aviation engineer Muhammad al-Zawahri who was allegedly assassinated on Thursday in Tunisia was one its leaders and manufactured drones for the movement.

The statement described al-Zawahri, 45, as a “martyr of Palestine, Tunisia, and the Arab and Islamic nations,” adding that the slain official, who is believed to have been assassinated by the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, was a leader of Hamas’ military wing.

Hamas directly accused Israel of the assassination, saying that “the coward Zionist hands assassinated the al-Qassam Brigades leader,” and called al-Zawahri the “pioneer of the Arab Spring and the sponsor of the Palestinian revolution and resistance.”

The statement highlighted that the Ababil drones, the Iranian-developed drone reportedly manufactured by al-Zawahri, played a major role in the resistance during the 2014 Israeli military offensive on the besieged Gaza Strip. more

Thursday, 15 December 2016

Israeli authorities have decided to return the body of slain 15-year-old Palestinian Khalid Bahr Ahmad Bahr to his family on Friday in the village of Beit Ummar in the occupied West Bank district of Hebron, sources at the Palestinian Civil Affairs Committee said on Thursday.

The sources added that the slain teenager would be buried on Saturday.

Bahr was shot dead by Israeli forces on Oct. 20 after allegedly throwing stones at a group of Israeli soldiers stationed near the Beit Ummar junction in the northern part of the village. A local activist, Muhammad Ayyad Awwad, told Ma’an at the time that Israeli forces had shot the minor in the back, with the bullet exiting through his chest.

Awwad also said at the time that Israeli soldiers prevented a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance from approaching the youth, while witnesses said that Israeli forces refused to provide CPR to the youth after he was shot, leaving the teenager to bleed out on the ground.

At the time of the incident, Israeli authorities had assured the Beit Ummar mayor that the slain teenager’s body would be returned the following day. However, Israeli authorities have kept the body for 57 days, preventing Palestinian authorities from conducting an autopsy or initiating an independent investigation around the circumstances of his death. more

Tuesday, 13 December 2016

Israeli forces on Monday evening shot a Palestinian activist in the leg with a rubber-coated steel bullet during a raid in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Issawiya while he was attempting to take photos and video footage in the neighborhood, according to a local committee.
Members of a local follow-up committee in al-Issawiya told Ma'an that committee member Muhammad Abu al-Hummus was “documenting Israeli violations and provocations" when an Israeli soldier "threatened to shoot him in the head if he didn’t leave."
Shortly after the threat was made against him, another soldier then shot a rubber-coated steel bullet at Abu al-Hummus from an approximate distance of 25 meters, hitting him in the leg.
Prior to the shooting, Israeli forces and police officers had stormed the town and deployed in its alleys "in a provocative manner," started stopping drivers, and arbitrarily issued a number of locals traffic fines, according to the committee.
more

Monday, 12 December 2016

A Hamas official claimed in an interview with Hamas-affiliated channel Al-Aqsa TV on Saturday that the Islamist movement had enough missiles at its disposal to supply to armies of Arab countries should they be willing to fight Israel.

Fathi Hammad said in the interview on Saturday evening that Hamas was “ready to ship missiles manufactured by the movement's military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, to Arab armies so as to fight the Zionist entity."

He boasted that the group "has developed a touch in military manufacturing which can compete with international manufacturers."

Hammad did not elaborate on where these weapons were being manufactured, nor how the Hamas movement, which rules the heavily blockaded Gaza Strip, was able to obtain the materials necessary for the production of an excess of missiles. more

Saturday, 10 December 2016

Israeli Jerusalem municipality crews escorted by armed Israeli forces raided on Friday the al-Bustan neighborhood of the village of Silwan in the occupied West Bank Jerusalem district, and delivered 13 demolition notices for several residential structures.
Activist and member of the Committee for the Defense of Silwan Properties Fakhri Abu Diyab told Ma’an that municipality crews handed 13 demolition notices to several families in al-Bustan neighborhood.
Abu Diyab noted that the houses slated for demolition have been built for tens of years, and are home to more than 100 Palestinians, including women and children.
He highlighted that Israeli municipality crews raid the town on a weekly basis, mostly on Fridays and Saturdays, and deliver demolition notices and summons for residents under different pretexts.
“The municipality’s raids aim is to tighten the situation and create a psychological, economical and social pressures on residents to force them look for other places to live in,” Abu Diyab said.
A spokesperson from Israel's Jerusalem Municipality was not immediately available for comment.
more

Thursday, 8 December 2016

A Palestinian youth was killed by Israeli border police forces on Thursday morning in the northern occupied West Bank after he allegedly attempted to carry out a stabbing attack.

Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri said in a statement that an 18-year-old Palestinian attempted to stab an Israeli border police officer at the Zaatara junction south of the city of Nablus, prompting Israeli forces to shoot at him, killing him instantly.

They added that large numbers of Israeli troops had arrived at the scene following the shooting, and that Israeli forces had closed the Zaatara intersection -- also known as the Tappuah checkpoint -- in both directions. more

Tuesday, 6 December 2016

Israel has recently been swept by a wave of, reportedly, over 250 large fires, which led to dozens of arrests on suspicion of arson. Tuesday night, hackers compromised two major Israeli news channels, unexpectedly interrupting the broadcast. The hackers then showed images of Muslim holy cities and suggested the recent wave of fires was divine retribution shown in their place.

The hack came before the Knesset – the Israeli parliament – voted on a bill that aimed to prevent the use of loudspeakers for religious purposes. The bill would restrict Muslim call to prayer- known as adhan – as these would be outlawed in mosques.

Programs on Channels 2 and 10 were interrupted for a brief period. During the interruption, images of Muslim holy cities were shown while the call to prayer could also be heard. The call to prayer is usually heard five times a day to market regular observance times.

A message in Hebrew also appeared on screen. It said “God is the greatest”, “God’s punishment” and “the fire that inflames the heart”, hence the correlation with the wave of wildfires in the country. more

Saturday, 26 November 2016

The spokesperson of Gaza’s health ministry said in a statement on Friday that the health ministry would face a difficult situation if fuel is not provided to hospitals in the few upcoming hours.

Ashraf al-Qadra called upon all competent authorities to quickly intervene and provide fuel for Gaza’s hospitals, noting that the fuel crisis in Gaza is expected to have severe effects on the besieged enclave’s hospitals.

The plead came two days after health services in a children’s hospital were suspended due to a lack of fuel to its generators.

The ministry of health said at the time that the al-Durrah children’s hospital would be out of commission for 27 hours due to the power shortage, adding that other hospitals across Gaza faced similar risks. more

An Israeli security guard Friday shot dead a Palestinian youth near the Shufat checkpoint in the Jerusalem area for allegedly attempting a stabbing attack on a group of Israeli security officers.

Israeli police spokesperson, Micky Rosenfeld told Ma’an that a Palestinian “approached [Israeli] security guards with a knife, and attempted to stab the guards.” Israeli forces responded with live fire. Israeli police later declared that the Palestinian had been killed in the alleged attack.

Rosenfeld added in a statement that no Israeli security guards were injured during the incident.

Witnesses told Ma’an that Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances rushed to the area following the incident. A Palestinian Red Crescent spokesperson was not available for immediate comment on the incident.

Locals later identified the slain Palestinian as Muhammad Nabil Zeidan, 15. more

Friday, 25 November 2016

Israeli forces detained at least 16 Palestinians across Israel and the occupied West Bank on Thursday and Friday over suspicions of starting fires that erupted in Haifa and have continued to spread for the fourth consecutive day.

Israeli media reported on Friday that three Palestinian workers were detained in the Haifa district over suspicions of arson. The Palestinians had reportedly entered Israel without permits.

Another 11 Palestinians were detained by Israeli forces in Israel and the Jerusalem area.

Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank district of Ramallah, Israeli forces detained a Palestinian for allegedly attempting to start a fire near the illegal Israeli settlement of Kochav Yaakov, an Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an.

The spokesperson did not identify the Palestinian detained in Ramallah, however, locals told Ma’an that Sayel Darwish Jarabaa, 60, was detained from the Beitin village in northern Ramallah late Thursday for allegedly attempting to start a fire. Jarabaa is the father of Saji who was killed by Israeli forces two-and-a-half years ago.

Israeli media also reported a detention of a 24-year-old Palestinian from Rahat city in the Negev of southern Israel for alleged “incitement” over a Facebook post reportedly encouraging others to start fires. more

Wednesday, 23 November 2016

An Israeli magistrate court in Jerusalem Wednesday sentenced a teenage Palestinian girl to 13-and-a-half years in prison for a stabbing attack carried out exactly one year ago in Jerusalem.

According to a statement released by the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS), lawyer Mufid al-Hajj reported that the prison sentence handed down to 17-year-old Nurhan Awwad also came with a fine of 30,000 shekels ($7,757).

Exactly one year ago, when Awwad was 16-years-old, she carried out a stabbing attack with her 14-year-old cousin Hadil Wajih Awwad, who was shot dead by an Israeli security guard during the incident.

Meanwhile, Nurhan was severely wounded with two bullet wounds in her stomach.

Video footage showed both girls running at the security officer waving scissors, before the security guard and another Israeli managed to knock the girls to the ground.

Once on the ground, the security guard ran forward and shot each of them several times. more

Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on Saturday morning after it operated for five consecutive days, allowing “humanitarian cases” to pass through in both directions.

Gaza's borders and crossings committee said in a statement on Sunday that 2,664 passengers, the majority of whom were humanitarian cases, were able to leave the besieged Gaza Strip to Egypt during the five day opening.

In addition to approved humanitarian cases, holders of Egyptian passports were among the passengers who left from Gaza to Egypt.
The statement added that 1,443 passengers traveled to the Gaza Strip from Egypt.

Thursday, 17 November 2016

The Israeli Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed by residents of the occupied West Bank village of al-Nabi Elyas over Israel’s confiscation of 100 dunams of Palestinian land, Israeli radio reported on Thursday.

According to the Arabic-language Voice of Israel station, the court ruled on Wednesday that residents of al-Nabi Elyas in the district of Qalqiliya could not prove ownership of land which had been seized to build a road.

The court claimed that the road, whose construction is expected to begin in January, would benefit both Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the area.

The ruling added that if Palestinians were able to prove ownership of the land after the confiscation, they were allowed to demand compensation.

The decision from the Supreme Court comes as the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, approved a preliminary reading of a bill which would retroactively legalize settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, which are currently deemed illegal under both Israeli and international law, even those built on privately owned Palestinian land.
more

Tuesday, 15 November 2016

Egyptian authorities opened the Rafah crossing between the besieged Gaza Strip and Egypt for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Border and Crossing Committee.
Egyptian authorities announced on Sunday that they would open the Rafah crossing for five consecutive days, beginning Monday morning and ending Friday evening, only for humanitarian cases, students, holders of Egyptian passports, patients and visa holders.
According to the committee, 386 “humanitarian cases” were able to pass through the crossing on Monday.
Egyptian authorities closed the crossing gate on Tuesday morning after four buses left the Gaza Strip towards Egypt.
The committee noted that Egyptian authorities denied access to the Egyptian side to 30 travelers for unknown reasons, while 274 travellers who had been stranded at the Egyptian side of the crossing were finally able to cross into Gaza. more

Monday, 14 November 2016

From Reuters - Donald Trump's election as the next U.S. president presents Israel with a unique opportunity to recast its Middle East policies, a far-right Israeli cabinet member and staunch opponent of Palestinian statehood, said on Monday.

Naftali Bennett, leader of the religious-nationalist Jewish Home party and a staunch proponent of Israeli settlement building, said it was now up to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to communicate to the U.S. administration and the world what he wanted and push for it.

Referring to his own past as a high-tech entrepreneur, Bennett said not making the goals clear would result in failure.

"The combination of changes in the United States, in Europe and in the region provide Israel with a unique opportunity to reset and rethink everything," Bennett, 44, told members of the Foreign Press Association.

"We have a chance to reset the structure across the Middle East. We have to seize that opportunity and act on it."

Friday, 11 November 2016

Israeli forces Friday morning fired several mortar shells at targets near Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media.

Israeli media reported that Israeli forces fired 5-6 mortar shells at several “suspicious” targets near Khan Younis in southern Gaza. No injuries or damages were reported.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an she would look into reports on the shelling.

Last month, the Israeli army shelled a site allegedly used by Palestinian militant groups in the central Gaza Strip, after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit an open area in southern Israel. No injuries were reported at the time.

Israeli forces also carried out several airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip in mid-September, after a rocket was launched from Gaza and exploded in an open area in southern Israel. No injuries were reported. more

Thursday, 10 November 2016

GAZA (Ma’an) – Israeli military boats Thursday opened live fire at Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of the northern Gaza Strip, according to witnesses.
Witnesses told Ma’an that one of the Israeli military boats chased the fishermen’s boats before opening live fire on them.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces also fired live ammunition at Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
No damage or injuries were reported in either incident.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an she would look into reports on the two incidents.

The Israeli army regularly opens fire on Palestinian fishermen and farmers along the border and the coast, despite a ceasefire agreement that ended the 2014 war.

The practice has in effect destroyed much of the agricultural and fishing sectors of the blockaded coastal enclave. more

Monday, 7 November 2016

An Israeli court sentenced a 14-year-old Palestinian boy to 12 years in prison on Monday for his part in a stabbing attack that wounded two Israelis in October last year.

The boy, named by Palestinian officials as Ahmed Manasra, carried out the attack in an Israeli settlement north of Jerusalem along with his 15-year-old cousin. The cousin was shot and killed by an Israeli passerby, while Manasra was wounded.

It was one of the first stabbings in a months-long wave of violence that caused alarm across Israel. The attack seriously wounded a 12-year-old Israeli boy who was riding on his bicycle and lightly injured a man. Both have recovered.

At the time, the incident caused widespread controversy because the Palestinian authorities accused Israel of killing both attackers. They subsequently discovered that the younger boy, sentenced on Monday, was still alive and being treated for his injuries in an Israeli hospital.

In passing sentence, the Jerusalem District Court barred the naming of the boy because he is a minor. But his identity has already been exposed by Israeli authorities and the Palestinian Prisoners' Association issued a press release naming him.

Over the past year, Palestinians, many acting alone and often using rudimentary weapons, have killed at least 35 Israelis and two visiting Americans in similar attacks.

During the same period, at least 226 Palestinians have died in violent incidents in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Of those, Israel has identified 154 as assailants, while others were killed during clashes and protests. more

Israeli naval forces opened fire at Palestinian fishermen off the coast of the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday evening, according to witnesses.
Local fishermen told Ma’an that Israeli forces opened fire on them while they were out at sea, off the coast of the northern town of Beit Lahiya, forcing them to sail back to shore.
No injuries were reported.

Israeli military incursions inside the besieged Gaza Strip and near the “buffer zone" which lies on both land and sea sides of Gaza, have long been a near-daily occurrence.

Palestinians who work near the “buffer zone” often come under fire from military forces, as the Israeli military has not made clear the precise area of the designated zone.

The Israeli army regularly open fires on Palestinian fishermen and farmers along the border areas, despite a ceasefire agreement that ended the 2014 war.

Wednesday, 2 November 2016

Israeli Nature and Parks Authority forces demolished several graves inside a Palestinian cemetery in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday morning, according to local sources.

Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani, the director of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, told Ma’an that forces from the Nature and Parks Authority raided the Bab al-Rahma cemetery -- which runs along the eastern wall of Jerusalem's Old City -- and demolished six Palestinian graves and crumbling tombstones.

According to al-Kiswani, the authorities claimed the graves and gravestones were constructed on “confiscated land” belonging to the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority.

Al-Kiswani countered the claim, citing official documents that state the graves that were demolished were owned by the al-Husseini and al-Ansari families.

An Israeli Nature and Parks Authority spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

This video filmed by locals shows the aftermath of the demolitions at the cemetery. more

Tuesday, 1 November 2016

Nine Palestinian prisoners continued their open hunger strikes in Israeli prisons on Monday, according to Sawt al-Asra (Voice of the Prisoners) radio.

Protesting for various reasons, the nine prisoners have all refused food until their demands have been met by Israeli authorities.

Four of the nine hunger strikers have been protesting being held in solitary confinement, according to the radio station.

19 year-old Anas Abd al-Majeed Shadid from the southern Hebron-area village of Dura has been on hunger strike for 35 days protesting his solitary confinement, while Majd Hassan Abu Shamla, 24, and Hassan Ali Rabayaa, 31, both from the Jenin district, continued their hunger strikes for the 27th day.

Mosab Manasra from Hebron continued his hunger strike for the seventh day, also in protest of his solitary confinement.

Palestinian prisoners Samer al-Issawi from occupied East Jerusalem and Munther Sanawbar from Nablus continued their hunger strikes for the seventh day on Monday.

The two have been protesting to end the mistreatment of Palestinian female prisoners in the Damon detention center.

When he began his hunger strike, al-Issawi demanded the transfer of the prisoners at Damon to a detention facility closer to the courts in which the detainees are tried, that the prisoners be provided with appropriate medical treatment, and that international NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) be allowed to visit the prisoners. more

Sunday, 30 October 2016

A Palestinian allegedly carrying out a car-ramming attack was killed by Israeli forces near the village of Beit Ummar in the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron early on Sunday evening.

Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri said in a statement that the Palestinian driver was shot and killed after carrying out a car-ramming attack in the vicinity of the illegal settlement bloc of Gush Etzion near Beit Ummar.

She said that the Palestinian vehicle "swiftly" approached a group of Israeli police forces who were carrying out a "security mission" in the area, lightly injuring three border police officers before other officers on the scene shot at the Palestinian driver, killing him. more

Wednesday, 26 October 2016

Israeli-enforced demolitions in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Beit Hanina and Silwan on Wednesday left at least 44 Palestinians homeless.

Three homes in the al-Ashqariya area of Beit Hanina north of Jerusalem were demolished Wednesday afternoon without prior notice, according to members of the families who were displaced as a result of the demolitions, and in Silwan, an extended family of 30 Palestinians -- mostly children -- were displaced after the Jerusalem municipality rejected the family’s attempts to obtain building permits for nine years.

Nasser al-Rajabi, the owner of one of the houses in Beit Hanina, told Ma’an that Israeli forces raided his home and started to remove his furniture before they demolished it under the pretext that the structure lacked the necessary Israeli-issued permits.

He said eight family members, including four children, were living in the 60 square meter house.

Al-Rajabi said it was the second time the home was demolished despite the fact that he has been trying to obtain permits for the past two years.

The second home, which was owned by by Ahmad Abd al-Razaq Siyam, was demolished while Siyam was at a store nearby.

His wife Nivin told Ma’an that she attempted to reach her husband at the store after Israeli forces raided the home, but they prevented her and carried on with the demolition. more

Monday, 24 October 2016

Israeli air forces shelled a military post allegedly belonging to the Hamas movement in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday morning, according to Israeli army and local Palestinian sources.

Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses told Ma’an that at least one Israeli artillery shell hit a military post belonging to what they called the "Palestinian resistance," east of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, next to the border with Israel.

The shelling caused material damages, though no human injuries or casualties were reported.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that early Monday morning, sirens went off in the Shaar Hanegev area of southern Israel -- which borders the northeastern Gaza Strip -- alerting the residents of the area that a rocket had been fired in their direction.

While the rocket did not in fact land inside Israeli territory, the Israeli air force in response "targeted a Hamas military post in the northern Gaza Strip," the spokesperson said. more

Saturday, 22 October 2016

A member of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, was killed in Gaza on Saturday after an underground tunnel collapsed on him.

According to a statement released by the Brigades, Anas Salameh Abu Lashin from al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip was killed in the tunnel collapse.

A number of Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in the vast tunnel networks that lie below the besieged enclave, which are largely used for smuggling in the south and military purposes in the north.

In April and May, Israeli forces claimed to have uncovered the first two tunnels crossing from the Gaza Strip into Israel since Israel's devastating offensive on Gaza in 2014.

Israeli officials have accused Hamas of "preparing" for another war with Israel and have threatened retaliatory measures against the Gaza Strip as a whole. However, despite Hamas' inflammatory rhetoric against Israel, the movement has not officially claimed responsibility for any military action from Gaza against Israel since the 2014 war. more

Wednesday, 19 October 2016

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces Wednesday shot and killed a Palestinian woman at the Zaatara (Tappuah) military checkpoint south of the occupied West Bank district of Nablus.

Israeli media reported that the Palestinian woman approached Israeli border police stationed at the checkpoint and attempted to carry out a stab attack, prompting the officers to open fire at the woman and "neutralize" her. She was reported dead by Hebrew language media outlets. more

Thursday, 13 October 2016

The Israeli navy opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, locals said.

Witnesses told Ma’an that Israeli navy boats opened fire at fishing boats off the coast of Beit Lahiya in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

No injuries were reported.

Israeli forces deployed at the borderline between the besieged Palestinian territory and Israel also reportedly opened fire at Palestinian agricultural lands east of Rafah City.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that they were looking into the reports.

Israeli military incursions inside the besieged Gaza Strip and near the “buffer zone" which lies on both land and sea sides of Gaza, have long been a near-daily occurrence.

Palestinians who work near the “buffer zone” between the Palestinian enclave and Israel often come under fire from military forces, as the Israeli military has not made clear the precise area of the designated zone. more

A Palestinian child was allegedly killed by Israeli forces on Wednesday in the southern Gaza Strip evening, while Israeli authorities denied responsibility in his death.
Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra told Ma’an that 10-year-old Abdullah Nasser Atwa Abu Mdeif was shot in the back by a bullet on Wednesday evening in the al-Qarrara area east of Khan Yunis.

Abdullah was later pronounced dead at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.

Al-Qidra said that the child was killed by a bullet fired by Israeli forces deployed in the area.

However, an Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that they “were aware of the incident, but not of (Israeli army) involvement.”

Meanwhile, Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Yoav Poly Mordechai denied in a statement posted on his Facebook page that the child, which he identified as "Abdullah Abu Mdeif, 13, from Khan Yunis," was killed by Israeli forces, claiming that he had died after shots were fired in the air during a wedding in the area. more

Wednesday, 12 October 2016

A 20-year-old Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli forces on Tuesday night during clashes that erupted in the town of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem just south of the Old City, amid ongoing violent police raids in the Jerusalem area.

Ali Atef Shuyukhi was shot and critically injured by live fire during clashes at around 11 p.m., with Israeli forces also firing rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas at Palestinian youth who responded with fireworks and Molotov cocktails, reportedly causing a military jeep to catch fire.

The 20-year-old man succumbed to his wounds after minutes, as Israeli police closed off the area to traffic and pedestrians, denying ambulances access to the youth.

A spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent told Ma’an that their ambulance crews were repeatedly searched and harassed by Israeli forces as they were prevented from accessing Shuyukhi, and were thus unable to confirm details of his fatal injuries.

However, according to the local organization the Wadi Hilweh Information Center, Shuyukhi was shot in the stomach, while state-run news agency Wafa reported that he was shot in the chest. more

Monday, 10 October 2016

Israeli forces detained at least 56 Palestinians in overnight raids between Sunday evening and Monday across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, with more than half of the detainees coming from the Jerusalem area, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said in a statement that 39 of the total detainees came from Jerusalem, including the 17-year-old daughter and father of the slain gunman who carried out a drive-by shooting Sunday morning in East Jerusalem that left two Israelis dead.

An Israeli police spokesperson said just 15 Palestinians were detained in East Jerusalem neighborhoods while and Israeli army spokesperson confirmed 16 total detentions were made overnight in the West Bank, saying three were conducted in the Jerusalem district -- one from the village of Qatanna, one from al-Ram, and one from Abu Dis.

Friday, 7 October 2016

The spokesperson for the European Union Friday strongly condemned Israel’s plans to construct 98 new housing units in occupied Palestinian territory in the northern West Bank for the establishment of a new Israeli settlement. The condemnation came two days following notably harsh criticisms by the United States over Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise.

Last month, the Higher Planning Committee (HPC) of Israel’s Civil Administration approved for “depositing” -- the planning phase prior to final approval -- a plan for 98 housing units for a new settlement to be located east of the already established settlement of Shiloh, on lands of the Palestinian village of Jalud in the northern West Bank district of Nablus. It is part of a larger plan for 300 units yet to be promoted.

Meanwhile in April, Palestinian residents of Jalud reported that Israeli authorities delivered notices alerting them that 5,000 dunams (1,250 acres) of private land were slated for confiscation.
A new industrial area west of Ramallah was also given approval at the time, near to Israel’s separation wall and the Green Line that divides the occupied West Bank from Israel.

The EU spokesperson emphasized that the new settlement units represented the “accelerating trend of new settlement announcements since the start of 2016,” adding that the move has threatened to further separate the West Bank districts of Ramallah and Nablus while disrupting any possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state. more

Thursday, 6 October 2016

The Israeli army shelled a site allegedly used by Palestinian militant groups in the central Gaza Strip on Thursday, after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit an open area in southern Israel.

Israeli military vehicles stationed along the border between Gaza and Israel reportedly shelled an area east of the Maghazi refugee camp, without causing any injuries.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that they were looking into the reports.

Earlier in the day, an Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit an open area in the Eshkol regional council, causing no injuries.

The shelling and rocket came a day after another rocket hit Israel and the Israeli army launched airstrikes in the besieged Palestinian territory.

Israeli airstrikes and artillery shells hit multiple targets in the blockaded Gaza Strip on Wednesday after a rocket fired from the blockaded Gaza Strip landed on a road inside the Israeli city of Sderot earlier that day.

Wednesday, 5 October 2016

The all-women solidarity ship called “Zaytouna” has reportedly been intercepted and attacked by Israeli naval forces, according to live updates released by the group on social media.

As the solidarity ship, whose name means "olives" in Arabic, reached less than 70 nautical miles from the shores of Gaza, inside Israel’s unilaterally declared buffer zone -- or “military exclusion zone”-- the Freedom Flotilla coalition released a statement calling on “governments, public officials and people of conscience to support publicly the right of unimpeded passage for peaceful civilian navigation, and the physical integrity of the crew and participants on board, and to support full freedom of movement for all peoples, in particular the Palestinians of Gaza.”

Shortly after, activists lost contact with the ship, leading them to believe the ship was intercepted by Israeli naval forces. However, they regained contact with the ship about an hour later.

Some 20 minutes after regaining contact, the Freedom Flotilla posted a video on Twitter of Israeli naval forces leaving Israel’s Ashdod port to intercept the ship. Activists again lost contact with the ship and released a statement claiming that the ship was under attack, adding that they received “reports” that the ship was surrounded by Israeli naval forces.

The Zaytouna was expected to arrive in the besieged Gaza Strip on Wednesday evening after setting off from the shores of Barcelona, Spain last month as part of the larger Freedom Flotilla. more

Israeli airstrikes and artillery shells hit multiple targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday, after a a rocket fired from the blockaded Gaza Strip landed on a road inside the Israeli city of Sderot Wednesday morning.

No injuries have been reported on either side.

Local sources told Ma'an after 3 p.m. that an Israeli airstrike targeted the "al-Qadisiya" training ground in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, which reportedly belonged to Hamas' military wing the al-Qassam Brigades.

Israeli warplanes also targeted the al-Wahah building, a headquarters for Gaza’s naval police, in northwestern Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip.

Another airstrike hit an agricultural field near a gas station in the northern Gaza Strip, the sources added.

Local reports also said that Israeli artillery shells landed in an open area near Jabal al-Rayyis east of Gaza City Wednesday afternoon.

Spokesman for Gaza's Ministry of Health Ashraf al-Qidra confirmed there were no injuries in the Israeli attacks. more

Local sources said they heard gunshots coming from the Wadi al-Joz junction near Bani Naim, then saw large numbers of Israeli military vehicles rushing to the area and setting up a number of roadblocks.

An eyewitness told Ma'an that a bus traveling from Bani Naim to Hebron stopped at the Wadi al-Joz junction, at which point a youth stepped out of the bus, "then Israeli troops fired at him."

Tarayra is the 230th Palestinians to be killed by Israelis since the beginning of a wave of unrest nearly a year ago across the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel. Some 32 Israelis have been killed by Palestinians during the same time period. more

Friday, 16 September 2016

Israeli forces Friday shot and killed a Palestinian youth in occupied East Jerusalem after an alleged stab attack at Damascus Gate in the Old City.

Israeli police spokeswoman for Arabic media Luba al-Samri said in a statement that a “terrorist” attempted a stabbing attack on an Israeli border policeman outside Damascus Gate and was “neutralized” by Israeli forces, a term commonly used by Israeli authorities when Palestinians are shot dead at the scene of an attack or alleged attack.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld added in a statement that there were no Israeli injuries during the attack and Damasus Gate has been completely closed off.

The slain Palestinian has not yet been identified.

The shooting on Friday marked the second Palestinian to be killed by Israeli forces in less than 24 hours.
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Thursday, 15 September 2016

Israeli forces carried out several airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip during predawn hours on Thursday after a rocket was launched from Gaza and exploded near the border with Israel.

The Israeli army had said the rocket hit an area near the Eshkol
According to locals, Israeli forces targeted empty agricultural lands northwest of Beit Lahiya in the northern region, reportedly striking a site used by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement. Israeli forces also shelled another site northwest of Beit Lahiya in the area of al-Shayma also allegedly used by Hamas, causing a fire to break out in the area.

Meanwhile, in Gaza city Israeli forces targeted the al-Yarmouk site allegedly used by the al-Qassam brigades in al-Shujaiyya neigborhood in the eastern part of the city.

No injuries were reported.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that Israeli forces carried out airstrikes on three “Hamas outposts” in the northern part of the coastal enclave in response to a rocket launched from Gaza Wednesday night, adding that the Israeli army held the Hamas movement responsible for all attacks from the Gaza Strip, although other Palestinian militant groups are active in the small Palestinian enclave.

According to The Times of Israel, the mortar shell exploded near the border with Israel. No injuries or property damage was reported. more

Wednesday, 14 September 2016

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Several Israeli military vehicles Wednesday morning entered northeastern Rafah City in the southern Gaza Strip and proceeded to level lands near the border.

Witnesses said that four Israeli military bulldozers entered some 50 meters into Palestinian lands from the Sufah military site between the districts of Rafah and Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

The bulldozers reportedly leveled lands near the border. No shootings were reported.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an she would look into reports on the incident.

Israeli military incursions inside the besieged Gaza Strip and near the “buffer zone" which lies on both land and sea sides of Gaza, have long been a near-daily occurrence. more

Tuesday, 13 September 2016

Scores of Palestinians were injured in the Gaza Strip on Monday, the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, in various circumstances related to Eid celebrations, medical sources and the Ministry of Health in Gaza said.

Thirty-three Palestinians in Gaza City sustained finger cutting injuries while slaughtering sheep for the Eid sacrifice, while two others fell from swings and sustained bruises at Eid celebrations. All were evacuated and treated, according to sources from al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

In Rafah City in the the northern Gaza Strip, more than 90 Palestinians were injured when sacrificial calves attacked them during slaughtering, while others were injured during botched slaughterings.

Dozens were also injured in other areas in the Gaza Strip with different wounds in similar incidents on the first day of Eid, the Ministry of Health said on Monday.

Eid al-Adha -- the Feast of Sacrifice -- is one of the most important holidays in the Muslim calendar.

The sacrifice of the animal usually takes place after Eid prayers, with families distributing the meat among relatives, friends, neighbors, and the poor.

As the near decade-long Israeli blockade has plunged the Gaza Strip’s more than 1.8 million Palestinians into poverty, the expensive ritual can be an immense financial burden for Gazan families.
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According to the Associated Press, Abbas flipped the ‘ethnic cleansing’ accusations onto Netanyahu, reiterating a point he had made in the past regarding Israeli actions of seizing occupied Palestinian land for exclusive Israeli use, and the displacement of hundreds of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Abbas made the statement during his remarks for the ongoing Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, adding that despite Netanyahu’s remarks, which the United States called “inappropriate and unhelpful,” Abbas remained willing to “continue with the democratic process” by meeting with Netanyahu in Moscow following an invitation from Russia to hold a meeting regarding ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Israeli Knesset Member Ahmad Tibi of the Joint List also said on Sunday in an opinion piece in Israeli newspaper Haaretz, that Netanyahu’s comparison of Palestinian citizens of Israel with illegal Israeli settlers was completely ahistorical, and that it was in fact Palestinians, not Israeli settlers, who have been victims of ethnic cleansing. more

Wednesday, 7 September 2016

A Palestinian family from the Old City in occupied East Jerusalem were forced on Wednesday to destroy their home with their own hands, in order to avoid punishment from Israel’s Jerusalem Municipality.

Nabih al-Basti and his family reportedly used “light tools” to demolish the house that he built 19 years ago.

Al-Basti, 53, told Ma’an that “one of the most difficult moments is for someone to demolish their own house - memories and dreams are demolished with the home.”

He added that over the course of the 19 years that him and his family had lived in the 60 square meter apartment, which sat on the third floor of a building, he had paid “thousands of shekels to maintain it.”

The Israeli municipality reportedly issued several demolition orders and gave al-Basti until September 20, 2016 to demolish his house.

Al-Basti said that during the last court session that took place in June, the municipality threatened to place him under house arrest, and impose additional fines on top of the standard demolition fine that Palestinians are forced to pay the Municipality if they do not destroy the home themselves, if he did not destroy his home within the given deadline.

An Israeli Jerusalem Municipality spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

Monday, 5 September 2016

Israeli forces shot and killed a young Palestinian man in Shufat refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem in the early hours of Monday morning following a raid in the camp, according to locals and Israeli police.

Local sources told Ma'an that Israeli forces "showered" a Palestinian car with gunfire, killing Mustafa Nimir and injuring another young man whose identity and health condition remained unknown to witnesses.

Israeli authorities claimed the driver, who they did not identify as either Nimir or the other person who was injured, attempted to run over Israeli police and border guard officers before they fired at the car.

Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri said police and border guard officers had completed an “activity” in the camp after midnight, and as they were leaving the camp a car “approached them swiftly and seemingly attempted to run over officers.”

According to al-Samri, before they fired, Israeli officers "started procedures to arrest the two suspects” who were in the car, but the Palestinian youth “ignored the orders and continued to drive swiftly towards the officers apparently with the intention to harm them.”

She added that Israeli officers fired at the car, initially injuring Nimir critically before he was announced dead on the scene.
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Thursday, 1 September 2016

Israeli authorities returned the body of Palestinian Bahaa Elayyan on Thursday at dawn, allowing his family -- which has been leading the movement advocating for Israel to release slain Palestinians' bodies -- to bury him 325 days after his death.

Elayyan, a 22-year-old resident of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabbir, was killed alongside another Palestinian after they attacked an Israeli bus with on Oct. 13, killing three Israelis with knives and a gun.

His body was buried at the al-Mujahidin cemetery near the Old City of Jerusalem, in accordance with stipulations from Israeli police, which has allowed the release of bodies of slain Palestinians from East Jerusalem accused of "terrorism" on the condition that they no longer have funerals in their neighborhoods or villages, but would instead be buried in cemeteries chosen by the police.

The stipulation comes amid a wider set of preconditions for the release, as only 25 people were allowed to attend Elayyan’s funeral, and his family was made to pay a 20,000 shekel ($5,292) “insurance fee” to make sure they abided by the rules.

Israeli forces were heavily deployed in the area ahead of the funeral, as attendees were searched three times at checkpoints and saw their phones confiscated during the burial. Israeli forces also reportedly prevented people who were not on the submitted list from entering the cemetery.

Israeli police also reportedly photographed people inside the cemetery. more